Food wasted = money thrown into the trash can. No food wasted = money saved. Done with the "preliminaries" I'd like to know how you guys ensure that you don't throw out any food. Most parents say that its their kids who are to blame for food wastage but wouldn't serving them small portions be a good solution to that little problem? Not that you'd starve them. They always get an another helping if they please. Other ways you can avoid wasting food [and save money in the process]?
Good point.. portions have definitely gotten huge since back in the day. I'm still always surprised to see how much people slop on their plates and they do it to their children too. I mean, I eat a lot.. but it's not the same foods, I need to, to get enough calories in a day. Kids definitely don't need that amount, assuming the diet is processed. They could get smaller portions and go for seconds if need be. It's not just about saving money either.. think of all the hungry people out there and here we are, throwing away most of our food. It's silliness.
It does start with childhood and good habits. You should eat what you can and the rest to be saved for leftovers. I have always been an advocate to cook only what you can eat, quality over quantity. I have seen people waste food because they were greedy or don't appreciate food and the cost. I took my friends teenage boys shopping and made they add up the prices as we shopped and they began to put things back when they realized how much things were and what they didn't need. Only buy what you know you will eat and only cook what you can eat. I cook big batches only when I know I won't have time to cook, but putting too much in the fridge or freezer is not good, but better than throwing food away.
Some cities have made it illegal to give food to homeless people. Apparently no one cares about the poor, hungry folks anymore. The money saved could be given to some charity and hopefully whatever you donated would get someone [far away] maybe a meal or two. That explains why obesity is a problem in N. America.
Ah, bullshit. People can get fat with buying unprocessed food and cooking it in unhealthy ways -- frying fat meat in the pan and eating a lot of salted potatoes to it, not knowing what a normal portion is, and stting on their arse all day. Just like people can eat processed food like cheese and yogurt and jam and be just fine. But to answer OP: Reduce waste by only buying stuff you know how to use, optimally that you know how to use in different ways to keep it new Know how to storage your food -- if your carrots or potatoes keep going bad, research what's the best way to storage them and stop wasting them! Also check out articles about where your food should be in your fridge. If you make a big portion and it does not get finished, leftover. Eat it the next day, or transform it into a new dish if it can be done. My mom would serve me generous portions of good food when I was hungry. If I did not finish my plate, it was put in a tupperware for my next lunch (she usually always made extra portions of the dish for leftovers anyway).
For me, it's just a matter of planning the weeks meals the night before I go to the supermarket. I can make a list, to ensure I get everythng I need and stick to it rigidly. Planning meals in advance really does help to prevent wasted food.
Sadly enough, it's true that way too much food goes to waste. When I was growing up, it just wasn't done. There was no such thing as, "I don't eat leftovers." You ate what was on your plate. I still overcook at times, but it's hard to know how hungry everyone will be with all the busy schedules. If I make a little, they are starving. If I make a lot, nobody is hungry. So, I try to make average size and if there's any left, I'll work it into another meal.
A good way to combat food wastage is to plan meals a lot better ahead of time. Usually people would just cook whatever they want and since their recipes don't adapt well to being turned into something new it just gets wasted. Planning what leftovers can be turned into helps a lot since people get tired a lot less quicker of the food when you are able to transform it into something completely new as leftovers.
When I first started shopping for myself, I always made it a point to get a bunch of vegetables and some fruit, thinking I should always have that stuff on hand in case I ever need it - but in reality, I was often wasting a lot of it week after week, especially stuff like a bag of carrots, or a large head of celery, or a bunch of different fresh herbs, such as thyme and tarragon. In addition, I was also making impulse buys on stuff like bean sprouts, or fresh ginger, or star fruit, and other items I rarely use, and those too would be in the trash a week or so later. Of course all that stuff adds up really fast, so now I make sure I have a general idea of what I'm going to be cooking for the week and only buy the bare minimum of what I know I definitely will need, such as some onions and tomatoes, perhaps a small bag of potatoes, etc... if I do happen to buy a bunch of vegetables to make something and I know I won't be able to finish using them all up before they go bad, I immediately chop up some of them and freeze them (only veggies that freeze well), rather than wait for them to go bad first. For example, one of our grocers sells a large pack of fresh jalapenos for like $1.50. There's no way I will be able to eat all 10-12 jalapenos in the pack before they start to rot, so I run about 3/4 of them through my food processor as soon as I get home, and toss them in the freezer. It also helps to avoid complicated recipes, and challenge yourself to "5 ingredients or less" type recipes. You would be amazed what you can create with the bare minimum of ingredients, and some more advanced cooking techniques.
You're right.. but I'm talking about eating healthy, not buying real food and ruining it to mimic the typical diet. And I would never condone sitting on your ass all day, but if you do it while eating the right foods.. IN THE RIGHT WAYS lol, you won't get fat unless you seriously overeat. Or try to prove this wrong and push yourself lol. Fat is food. The "fat is lack of exercise" camp is getting their info from a junk eating, couch potato rat in the 50s. They were FULL of sound science back then
This is very true. I do try to plan meals that work together. If I'm making meatloaf, for example, I might plan for chili or spaghetti the next night. That way, leftover meatloaf (if there is any) can be incorporated into the next meal. I also make soup sometimes, by using up leftovers. My mom was big on making casseroles from odds and ends. Lots of good advice, Ohio.
For me it's quite easy to never or very rarely waste any food. I simply buy only what I need for a few days. When I lived more remote, in the country, I had my own garden, so I would just go and pick whatever vegetables I needed for lunch or dinner. Nothing ever went to waste. These days, I go down to the farmers' market twice a week. I have always fresh food that gets consumed within a few days. Hence, there is no waste.
My problem with your original post is this thing about "processed foods". I know processed food became a word for talking about the most unhealthy, unrecognizable food items, but as far as I'm concerned, it does not mean that to process a food is unhealthy. Tofu is processed, and I would really rather eat that than soy. Just like I prefer cheese to milk. This is why I say that your claim that the most important "evil" is processed food rings false to me -- you can have a perfectly healthy diet with eating the "right kind of processed foods in the right way", just like you could fuck up a lot of a plain food diet by overindulging in tons of things. Fat is an excess of calories in proportion to how much you use. It is the combination of diet and exercise. It also has to do with metabolism, medication and other medical characteristics. I know people who eat good diets and get fat. But fat isn't so much of a problem as healthy -- and you might be actually surprised to know that overweight people who do a lot of exercise are more healthy than thin people who never do any. So my point was mostly about you saying that you dared anyone to get fat without processed food, which I answered. Now if it was about "I dare you to get fat using a healthy diet!", that would be another point entirely, but it is not what you claimed. I'll stick to my processed tofu over steak, anyhow.
Fine.. you knew what I meant though lol. As for the exercise bit.. I was only referring to it in connection to weight. No, you do not need exercise to lose weight.. it was put there by food and it will go with proper foods. Lack of exercise is not the obesity problem like everyone wants to pin it on because they're addicted to their sh#t. I'm very very aware exercise is necessary for all other aspects. Even nudging weight loss if you absolutely can't put down the crap. But still.. it's just a nudge. But now I should add that many get fit on crap diets with lots of exercise.. but that brings us back to health. This is why we need both.. I never said we don't, I just like to push the "food is fat" thing because everyone thinks they can outrun a poor diet and wonders why they can't get rid of the weight, even while exercising their asses off. And because almost EVERYone with these issues puts weight above all else. So if they're going to concentrate on that, so will I.. the truth they hate to hear. But I usually always add that exercise is mandatory for all else. Of course it is. PS: Thanks and kudos for not eating that steak
Yeah I honestly never appreciated the creativity and planning that goes into it until I got older and started to prepare meals myself. I now have a much better appreciation of casseroles and other similar dishes that turn leftovers into something totally new and fresh so that the family doesn't end up getting tired of the same flavor even if the same ingredients are being used.
I avoid waste with my shopping schedule & using things most people would throw out: veggie scraps, eggs shells, reusing jars of any sort, & so on. You should never get to a place where things are expiring in your fridge or rotting on counters. You really have to reevaluate your shopping habits if that's the case.
Instead of aiming to have full cupboards at the end of the month, I aim to have empty cupboards because that's how I know that I bought exactly the amount of food we needed and made good use of it. My ex loves the look of full cupboards and he ends up throwing away a lot of expired food. I have a master shopping list of staples that I stick with, though I do leave a little room in the budget for trying new snacks because it's good to live a little.
Since I'm living on my own at the moment I don't have such a big problem beacuse I know exactly how much I want to eat so I don't waste any food. In any case, peoper planning and experience is the way to go in order to cut down on food waste.
You know your point kind of hits home. Whenever we visit my grandmothers we are saturated by food. She serves the portions, and guilt trips you if you don't eat EVERY morsel on your plate. I am an active dude but I just don't eat large portions. She goes on about how much you can't waste the food and you need to eat it. I think this is very typical of her generation, especially considering the times they grew up in. Thing is, in this day and age we have so much food you have to really be careful to overeat! Other thing is about half my family on that side is certainly overweight. It's kind of an interesting situation, our country has a huge obesity problem, but the generation that grew up in the depression will want you to eat your fill every time.
